General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[Big_John_10]

I would certainly like to know if the reports of sidwell to fulham and luke young to liverpool were true.

And if true how that supports the claims that MON was not willing to help reduce the wage bill.

[bakerbob]

General as a member of the board of Aston Villa you will always give the boards version of events and unless MON has been gagged by fiancial handcuffs he we will give his side in time.

You cannot be neutral in your position I can't remember you criticising Randy or the board and that is to be expected, yes you have sorted a lot of problems out (cold coffee,seating etc) but you are the PR for the board as well as a fan.

We fans should realise that the info from you put on this site will have been through a filter.

On the present situation with MON walking out on us I believe that the management of AV should have seen the situation arising and either sorted it or had plans in place to replace him. This does not show the senior management of AV in a very good light.

[BOF]

After a clean up ...

If you are not here to ask the General a question; and ask in a respectful manner; then please do not contribute to this thread. Thank you.

[villanesque]

General,

Thanks for trying to keep the lines of communication open between fans and management of the club. It is commendable. I've been a Villa fan long before Mr. Lerner's involvement but must say that I was very pleased that he took reign of the club.

My question is does the board feel that a 25 man squad (with no new transfers in) of current players can compete on all four fronts (Europe, FA Cup, League Cup and Premier League)? I realize that Martin didn't play half the squad, and that the young guys have really improved but I think it's a fair question to know if the board feels that those players that didn't contribute last season if given a chance this season is truly enough to reach higher than 6th, longer in Europe, another League Final and another FA semi-final or better?

Thanks and obviously all Villa fans wish the best for the club and on a personal note I want so much for Randy to succeed at the club.

[parisvilla]

Despite the above moderation you opted to make a post starting 'not a question....'

Post removed - Trent

[Brumerican]

My question is are we paying interest on loans from our own owner ?

[CVByrne]

As an aside, no one person is bigger than our Club...not me, not Randy, not Paul, not Martin. What is interesting is that, apparently, only three of those named understand that fact.

Can I ask if you stand by this comment. That Martin considered himself bigger than the club?

[shambles]

Hi General,

As Kevin MacDonald is the caretaker manager and will take charge of the first team until further notice, if he proves successful in the short term, will he be offered the job in the longer term? Is he even interested in the job?

Thanks for your time, Randy and the board have my 100% support, at least. MON wouldn't have got very far without the support of yourselves and the finance and platform you provided him to build a team; so for sections of the media to overstate his importance to Aston Villa the way they are is very annoying and short sighted.

[hobbo]

Hi General,

Regarding the wage bill, why is it so urgent? Why is it worth undoing the good work of the past 4 seasons? I could understand if the club's owner had no cash but this is patently not the case - he's loaded! If Randy cares that much about the Villa he'll sort the wage issue out over an extended time period, not wipe out the progress made in one summer of madness.

Martin Jol or Mark Hughes please? That Bob Bradley fella - nice guy, I'm sure - could backfire spectacularly.

Ta,

[VillaRoy]

Hi General Krulak,

For the record, can we complete signings of players without a manager in place?

[brummybloke]

General Krulak here:

1. Again, rather than try to answer everyone's specific questions, let me try to continue to feed info as it becomes available.

2. Obviously I am not in a position to name "targets" for the new Manager...that would not be a smart thing to do. What I will say is that we recognize this is an important decision and one that needs to be done rather quickly but, equally important, in a manner that gets the right man. We DO know how important this will be...no one is thinking it will be easy. Reality is that we have 4 days before our first game and rushing out to get a Manager is not the smart thing to do...just to have someone on the sidelines. One of the sad things about this whole affair is that Martin left when he did. I agree that the Club needs to come out with a statement...and they will. Likewise, Randy will have something to say. Speaking as a Fan, I have read every article about Martin's departure and must say that they are pretty one-sided. There is absolutely no question that Martin did a good deal for Villa and I have said, over and over, that I felt he did a fine job. At the same time, I can promise everyone that he knew and understood the long range plans for the Club and bought into them. He knew full well about the need to bring wages in line with revenue...the same as every Premiership Club. He was absolutely supported by the owner during his time with the Club...all one needs to do is look at the money spent. The reality is that the wage to revenue issue was not addressed and Martin apparently was unwilling to help address it. He quit. Do I think we have some rough times ahead? Probably...but nothing that we can't handle. I have been in some tough scrapes before...and I never got out of them by "wishing it away". I just put my head down and continued to grind it out. At the end of the day, is the aim to get into the Champions League? Absolutely! Is this realistic? Absolutely! Do we still have a way to go? Absolutely! As an aside, no one person is bigger than our Club...not me, not Randy, not Paul, not Martin. What is interesting is that, apparently, only three of those named understand that fact. We will continue to try to do what is right by the Vlla...with the very best of intentions. Will we always get it right...probably not. But we will work damn hard to do the right things.

thank you.

my question...

does randy now qualify for frequent flyer points?

[Irish_Villain]

General,

You say that we're aiming for champions league football still. Yet how can you back this up? We can't compete with Man City, Spurs or Liverpool with spending or wages.

Lerner has spoken in the past about a sell to buy policy yet we have one of the smallest squads in the prem. He also spoke about the merits of focusing on young talent. While we have some great talent coming through, selling young talented players like Milner and Young would simply contradict this. I don't want our club to become a feeder club for the top four.

So how exactly are we going to compete for Champs league, what strategies have we? Can you not understand fan's frustration at hearing our top players being touted to be sold to "bigger" clubs? To me this just shows complete lack of ambition. This is not the actions of a club vying to compete for a champions league spot.

[briny_ear]

Hi General

Congratulations!

You have certainly hit the headlines here with your Villatalk posts.

Heres what some of the the headlines are saying:

MARTIN O'NEILL BRANDED SELFISH FOR RESIGNING FROM ASTON VILLA

Randy Lerner's right-hand man hits out at former Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill

General launches O'Neill salvo

Lerner's right-hand man hits out at former boss

Lerner's right-hand man hits out at O'Neill

Aston Villa director attacks O'Neill for resignation

Villa director hits out at O'Neill

Aston Villa director Krulak hits out at O'Neill

VILLA DIRECTOR SLAMS MARTIN O'NEILL

I think this brings the club into disrepute and creates an impression of chaos and infighting behind the scenes.

I just wondered if these were the sort of headlines you were hoping for, and if they do the club any good?

[colleh]

General, what's the point in you, Lerner and co continuing if you obviously don't have the money to compete for champions league football?

[thetrees]

General,

I am writing this in anticipation that you or the club may feel the need to pull your support of fan's forums.

I have disagreed with you on occasion, and been annoyed with your response at least once.

That said I appreciate the fact that Mr Lerner and you have thought it a good idea to communicate with the supporters over these past years, the time and effort that you personally have put in, and the help and assistance that you have either offered or arranged for what must be probably hundreds of supporters. Supporters of other football clubs look upon us with envy that we have such a direct line to the ownership of our club.

Unfortunately many have chosen the past few days to be at worst abusive and at best questioning the honesty of yourself and Mr Lerner, none of which have been acceptable in my eyes.

Your words on the subject of Martin O'Neill's departure were polite, candid and, most importantly bore the strongest resonance of truth in the middle of the tidal wave of rumour and speculation that was out there.

I don't think that you overstepped the mark, nor brought the club into disrepute. If, with hindsight, you think that you may have done, then you have my admiration for standing up for your friend, Mr Lerner, who was, and still is, receiving unwarranted criticism and abuse.

What most people miss is the fact that football in this country is at the beginning of a huge change for most clubs, including the established 'top 4'. The wages bubble is about to burst and, merely because Mr Lerner is one of the first to hold a pin in his hand, and somebody left who was employed to manage but was apparently incapable of doing just that, both Mr Lerner and Aston Villa are receiving the worst of the publicity.

I am sure that the present situation will be resolved, and that we will continue to build in the future, and I thank you for stepping forward at this time.

So many others, including your critics, would run and hide in such a situation.

[Sit_Down_Potato_Head]

Dear General,

I hope that many of those aiming criticsm at the Owner and the Board will have calmed down since hearing what I can only describe as sad news on Monday.

For me, shock has given way to disappointment over what is now being perceived as rather a selfish move by our recently departed manager. I think football, and Premiership football has a big lesson to learn over how to handle its finances, and whilst we have spent a considerable amount on transfer fees and wages in the last four years, as fans, we always feel that this club lives within its means; maintaining a healthy balance between its amibitions and what is achievable.

It seems to me that football's lesson still isn't being heeded, with clubs facing winding up orders, tax bills and administration becomming commonplace. OK, these are worst case scenarios, but after the debarcles of Leeds, Bradford, Portsmouth and now Sheff Wed, nobody seems to ackowledge that the game simply cannot support the kind of spending that's gone on in past. Clubs' huge debts just seem to be a parcel that's passed from one owner to another, from one "takeover" to another. The problem isn't being addressed and this is just a case of papering over the cracks.

For me, a great manager is one that can improve a team with the resources at his disposal. Anyone can spend a club's money, even less can spend it well, only a select few are able to achieve sustained improvement, and hardly any can do this with meagre resources. I think Martin O'Neill achieved these targets in flashes, and whilst some of his signings have been excellent, I'd only rate his success in the transfer market as "satisfactory". However,

We continue to have a club that is very well run, by people who seem to be far more conscientious than the timing of our previous manager's departure would indicate.

Kind regards

SDPH

PS - If you're looking for a manager, there's this chap called Frank Rijkaard in Turkey. He's won one or two things in the last few years, one of which is called the Champions League or something...

Anyhow, he's only got 1 year to go on his contract...

[TrentVilla]

Once again can I remind people this thread is for questions not for discussion between posters or for posters to answer or comment on other posters questions. This isn't a thread in the same sense as the main board.

Can we please stick to asking questions of the General please.

[dotcomsimon]

General,

Just had a quick browse around the new style website and just wanted to say job well done!!!!

[Texas_Mike]

General I am 100% behind all that you and Randy are doing. At lot of people over react and the press sure like headlines. being detached from the local activity I can see how such a situation could develop and I understand the knee jerk reactions form some of the supporters. However we cannot spend money we do not have but we must continue to try and push on. I can only assume if we had sold some of our fringe players the MON situation would not have developed as the payroll would have been reduced but we didn't so it was hard to sanction new additions. For me it is not European Champion league or bust, I'll take being successful year on year and winnig a trophy now and then. I for sure want the next manager to take the Europa league (or whatever it is called) seriously and make better use of squad and highly rated youth players. So keep on doing what you are doing. Appoint a manager that gives us a chance of moving forward but do not make decisions that could see us fall down to the league without any money available to get back.

Flip do I need a question or risk being deleted.... Are you going to the West Ham game????

[TheSufferingVilla]

General, new website is excellent props to all involved.